Objective:To detect the effect of a new triterpene saponins extracted from Clematis ganpiniana on growth and apoptosis of human gastric carcinoma cell line SGC-7901,and investigate the effect of Clematis saponins on the activity of nuclear transcription factor NF-κB of SGC-7901 cells,and preliminarily explore its possible mechanism. Methods:After SGC-7901 cells were treated with Clematis saponins at different concentrations for 48h,MTT assay was used to detect the growth inhibition of cells. Negative control and blank control were set. Apoptosis rate of SGC-7901 cells treated with Clematis saponins and 5-fluorouracil(5-FU)was determined by Annexin V/PI double staining of flow cytometry(FCM). Western blot was used to test the expression of NF-κB p65 in nuclei. The intranuclear activity of NF-κB was confirmed by ELISA assay. Results:The inhibition rate on SGC-7901 cells in each Clematis saponins treatment group was significantly higher than that in control group(P < 0.05),and the inhibition rates increased with the concentration increase of Clematis saponins. The Clematis saponins could obviously promote cell apoptosis induced by 5-FU. Western blot and ELISA results confirmed that the Clematis saponins could significantly inhibit the expression and activity of NF-κB in nuclei. And the inhibition pattern showed in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion:Clematis saponins can significantly inhibit cell proliferation and induce cell apoptosis of gastric carcinoma cell line SGC-7901,which might be partly related to the inhibition of the NF-κB expression.